Sealed in my comfy 70-degree or so
house while it raged 115 or so outside (that was predicted
temperature, I never ventured outside to check for myself), was quite
nice. Midori took a long nap as well so I put in several hours
outlining the next book I intend to write.
Ignoring that book entirely now that my
outline is finished, I'm brainstorming now about an unrelated futuristic novel
where the world actually hasn't gone to sh-- like all the cliches.
Well, to be precise, it did, but the few humans who survived are now crazy
strong. This came on after I had a thought about bees today, or specifically the 10-20%
or so left in the United States after Mosanto and its neonicontinoids
have wiped the rest out. Heaven forbid the government finally make
them stop using the stuff and save the final 10-20% bees strong
enough to survive thus far. I got to thinking that when the bee populations
come back afterward (if they come back...) they might feel somewhat boosted in their now neonicontinoid-free environments.
What if the same were true of
post-appocolytic humans? With all the endless toxins in our
environment, foods, drinking water, 'safe' levels of background-level radiation,
dioxin, Teflon, etc., those of us who have survived so far seem
'normal' but are actually far stronger than any humans thousands or
even a hundred years ago would have been. We'd have to be, or we'd certainly be dead
by now.
Now fast forward to 30-50 years after
the Armageddon 'event' that destroys most of the population,
infrastructure, and way of life. The Earth resets, purging toxins
as it regrows the trees. There would be no more background radiation (TV,
cell phones, wi-fi), and all foods would pretty much organically grown or hunted. Would surviving humans be boosted in this
pollutant-free environment and actually be something more like super
humans you might read about in a comic book?
That's the gist of the idea I'm kicking
around. They wouldn't have comic book style 'powers' no, but they
would naturally be stronger, have more energy, be able to survive
with less food, less sleep, less stress. They would also live
quite a bit longer than current humans, easily up to 130-150 years.
BUT, with no natural predator, it is unlikely humans would stay so strong over subsequent generations. They would breed like rabbits,
become fat and lazy, build up cities again, and history would only
repeat itself. I need something out there hunting my super humans,
keeping them sharp, slim, and in the zone. Any ideas?
